1. Terminology in public health
Dr. Salwa A. Tayel & Dr. Ibrahim Gossady
Department of Family & Community medicine

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE
By the end of this lecture students will be able to:
Explain common definitions and terminology used
in public health
Apply these definitions in different situations.

3. health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. (WHO 1948) Final scope of health is the ability to lead a "socially and economically productive life". Many sectors (health, education, agriculture, police) need to work together to help achieve well being which cannot be achieved with health services only.

4. morbidity
Any departure, subjective or objective, from a state of physiological or psychological well-being. In contrast to the words ‘disease’, ‘illness’ and ‘health problem’, the word morbidity is used in a ‘collective’ way to describe the overall situation in a community/country about prevalent health issues affecting various population groups.
2/9/2014

5. Epidemiology
Epidemiology is often described as the basic science of public health.
Epi: on or upon Demos: people or population
Logos: study of
Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems
(Last JM, editor. Dictionary of epidemiology. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press; p. 61.)

6. POPULATION/COMMUNITY
POPULATION/COMMUNITY: A specific group of people, often living in a defined geographical area, who share a common culture, values and norms, are arranged in a social structure according to relationships which the community has developed over a period of time.
2/9/2014

7. DISTRIBUTION
Epidemiology is concerned with the frequency and pattern of health events in a population
Frequency refers not only to the number of health events but also to the relationship of that number to the size of the population (rates)
Pattern refers to the occurrence of health-related events by time, place, and person.

8. DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH: The range of personal, social, economic and environmental factors which determine the health status of individuals or populations
Personal or proximal determinants of health are age, sex and genetic factors. Life style factors such as smoking habits, diet and physical activity play an important role in a wide range of health problems
2/9/2014

9. DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

10. Communicable disease
An illness due to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products that arises through transmission of that agent from reservoir to susceptible host.
Easily transmissible diseases are called contagious diseases
Communicable Disease (typhoid, influenza,..
Non- Communicable Disease (DM, cancer,..
2/9/2014

11. Contamination
The presence of living infectious agents on the exterior surface of the body or on the clothes or articles of the person or on any inanimate object in the environment including water and food.
November 23, 2014

12. Infection
Infection is the entry and development or multiplication of an infectious agent in the body of man or animals.
An infection does not always cause illness.
There are several levels of infection (Gradients of infection):
Colonization (S. aureus in skin and normal nasopharynx)
In-apparent cases
Clinical cases (mild/moderate/severe-typical/atypical)
November 23, 2014

13. Endemic
The constant presence of a disease or infectious agent within a given geographic area or population group; may also refer to the usual prevalence of a given disease within such area or group.
e.g. Typhoid, Hepatitis A
November 23, 2014

14. Epidemic
The occurrence of more cases of a disease than expected in a given area or among a specific group of people over a particular period of time.
November 23, 2014

15. Endemic vs Epidemic Time Number of Cases of a Disease Epidemic Endemic
November 23, 2014

16. Pandemic
An epidemic occurring over a very wide area (several countries or continents) at the same time and usually affecting a large proportion of the population.
e.g. Influenza A H1N1 in 2009
November 23, 2014

17. Outbreak
Outbreak is a more or less localized epidemic affecting large number of a group, in the community
e.g. outbreak of food poisoning
November 23, 2014

18. Sporadic
Cases occur irregularly, haphazardly from time to time and generally infrequently.
Cases are few and separated widely in space and time showing no connection to each other.
November 23, 2014

19. Nosocomial infections (hospital-acquired infection)
An infection originating in a medical facility; e.g., occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission.
It includes infections acquired in the hospital but appearing after discharge; it also includes such infections among staff.
November 23, 2014

20. Virulence
the ability of an infectious agent to cause severe disease, measured as the proportion of persons with the disease who become severely ill or die.

21. Reservoir of infection
The reservoir of an agent is the habitat in which an infectious agent normally lives, grows, and multiplies.
Reservoirs include:
Humans, animals, or the environment.

22. Zoonosis:
An infection or infectious disease transmissible under natural conditions from vertebrate animals to humans.
Zoonotic diseases include:
brucellosis (cows and pigs),
anthrax (sheep),
plague (rodents),
rabies (dogs, bats and other mammals).

23. Carrier
A person or animal that harbors the infectious agent for a disease and can transmit it to others, but does not demonstrate signs of the disease.

24. Communicable period
The time during which an infectious agent my be transmitted directly or indirectly from an infected person to another person or animal.

25. Incubation period
The time interval from exposure to an infectious agent to the onset of symptoms of an infectious disease.

26. Chemoprophylaxis:
The administration of a chemical, including antibiotics, to prevent the development of an infection or to slow progression of the disease to a clinically manifest form.
Chemotherapy:
The use of a chemical to treat a clinically recognizable disease or to limit its further progress

27. Reference
Last JM, editor. Dictionary of epidemiology. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001
Principles of EPIDEMIOLOGY in Public Health Practice Third Edition An Introduction to Applied Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Glossary pages;1-23